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July 25, 2012 — Taner Trujillo has always been interested in a healthcare profession,
but the soon-to-be Pinedale High School junior wondered what path to take to
achieve his dream.

It wasn’t until one of his hometown teachers told him about
a summer healthcare camp at the University of Wyoming that Trujillo set a goal to
pursue a career either as a pharmacist, anesthesiologist or radiologist.

Forty high school students from 21 Wyoming communities participated
in the recent second Wyoming Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Healthcare
Careers Summer Camp. Pinedale High
School students Dakota Cox and Hayden Fish also attended the weeklong UW camp.

The camp provided students with an opportunity to explore
numerous healthcare careers through interaction and observation. Students also
learned about the requirements necessary to pursue a healthcare career as well
as the numerous job opportunities that will be available throughout Wyoming
upon completion of their training.

The underclassmen were exposed to careers in such fields as
nursing, pharmacy, medicine, surgical technology, audiology, dental hygiene,
radiography and ultrasonography. Activities took place on the UW campus, Laramie’s Ivinson Memorial
Hospital and at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne.

“Wyoming is facing a critical shortage of healthcare
workers. Camp sponsors hope that opportunities like this will motivate students
to consider pursuing healthcare careers,” says Marivern Easton, Wyoming AHEC
program director and also UW College of Health Sciences health professions
recruitment director. “The shortage will worsen as the baby boomer generation
ages.”

According to a recent report, each Wyoming county is dealing
with shortages in primary care and mental health, and many face shortages of
dentists and other health care professionals.

The key, Easton says, is to identify, recruit, train and
retain Wyoming residents.

“If we can generate enthusiasm among high school aged
students and support them as they pursue education and training opportunities,
we have a much stronger possibility of eventually employing them as healthcare
workers throughout Wyoming,” she adds.

During the recent healthcare camp, students explored a
variety of healthcare careers and had opportunities to suture (with chicken
breasts); practice starting IVs; make a cast; perform an ultrasound-guided “biopsy”;
and operate a laparoscope, an instrument used to examine abdominal or pelvic organs.

Trujillo particularly enjoyed learning how to properly
measure materials to make lip balm in one course, while also learning to use a
stethoscope and techniques to apply an IV on one of the UW College of Health
Sciences simulator arms.

“The camp gave me a good idea what it will be like if I go
into any one of these healthcare fields. This also will motivate me to do even
better in school and to help me stay focused,” Trujillo says. “The camp at UW
will help me follow my dreams and get the job that I want.”

For more information about the summer camp, call Easton at (307)
766-6751.

Photo:Pinedale High School student Taner Trujillo practiced
starting an IV on one of the University of Wyoming College of Health Sciences
simulator arms. Trujillo and two other PHS classmates participated in the
recent second Wyoming Area Health Education Center Healthcare Careers Summer
Camp. (UW Photo)